1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a touch panel sealing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, touch panels are provided on portable terminals such as, for example, navigation devices, PDA terminals, MP3 players, Portable Multimedia Players (PMPs), electronic books, or tablet PCs. Such touch panels generally include resistive touch panels, capacitive touch panels, ultrasonic touch panels, and infrared touch panels according to operational principles thereof, with resistive touch panels and capacitive touch panels being more widely used. In particular, capacitive touch panels have been widely used due to their advantages in durability and transmission. Conventional technologies related to the capacitive touch panel are disclosed in Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-1999-00640226 and Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-2009-0048770
In recent years, in addition to a concept of a user touching a touch panel and inputting data, haptic feedback devices, including the concept of reflecting an intuitive experience of a user through an interface and diversifying feedback, are being widely employed.
The term “haptic” refers to a sense of touch which can be felt by the finger tip of a user or a stylus pen when the user touches an object and is provided with feedback when the skin touches a surface of the object. For example, the haptic feedback device provides a haptic feedback such that, when touching a button displayed on a screen, the user feels like he or she actually touches or presses the button. The technology of a haptic feedback device is disclosed, for example, in Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-2011-0075714. Structures, in which a touch panel is suspended by a resilient member such as a spring in a body of a portable terminal, are disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-1070079 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,999,660.
In order to provide vibrations to a touch panel, the touch panel needs to be suspended above the body of a portable terminal. However, since a space exists between the body and the suspended touch panel, foreign substances such as dust or water may easily enter into the body.
In addition, when a sealant such as foam, poron, or a double-sided tape is used to prevent entry of foreign substances into a space between the touch panel and the body, the touch panel is attached to the body even if foreign substances can be successfully blocked out. Thus, vibrating forces created to vibrate the touch panel when a haptic driving unit is driven are weakened and are also transferred to the body while significantly reducing vibrating forces provided to the touch panel.